Source: Works in Progress
The mechanization of transplant logistics—better preservation techniques, matching algorithms, and surgical coordination—has moved organ availability from crisis scarcity to managed supply. Transplant medicine has been bottlenecked by biological fragility (organs degrade in hours) and logistical friction (finding compatible recipients across geography) for decades; efficiency gains here unlock actual lives rather than marginal improvements. The tension now shifts from "can we do transplants" to questions about allocation justice and whether efficiency gains benefit wealthy nations first, making transplant equity a geopolitical issue rather than purely a medical one.